That title suited Shirou very well, but he could never say it aloud in front of him. After all, with Exusiai's apple pie incident fresh in everyone's minds, no one wanted to get pranked by Shirou.
After all, while he indulged them unconditionally and satisfied their every desire for food, they would still mutter complaints when acting up, then help clean up the mess afterward.
He also only looked for discounted items at the supermarket, and was quite skilled at organizing.
It was simply—cough, cough, cough, better not say it, better not say it. It would be bad if he accidentally let it slip later.
"It's all right. Hurry up and eat. The pan-fried dumplings won't taste as good if they get cold."
Shirou let out a sigh of relief and steered the conversation away. If he found out Sora was currently thinking about the nicknames the Penguin Logistics crew had given him, he would definitely strictly control their diets.
For example, Pocky, apple pies, desserts, drinks, and the like—consuming less of those was beneficial to the human body.
"Okay! Good thing I came back early, or I wouldn't have gotten to eat any."
Sora lightly dipped a pan-fried dumpling into some chili sauce, then took a bite.
With the chili sauce, the flavor of the dumplings became even richer, and Sora cleared the plate in front of her in no time.
Afterward, she helped Shirou clear the bowls and plates, carrying them to the kitchen sink.
"Hm? Shirou, did something happen today? Were you attacked?"
Sora spotted the jacket hanging outside to dry, which was covered in large and small pits and burn marks.
"I ran into a fire, but only the clothes got burned."
Shirou was wiping the table and didn't mention that he had charged right into the blazing fire.
"Is that so?"
Sora felt like something was a bit off, but she didn't press the matter and instead changed the subject.
"Still, it seems like you only have this one jacket, Shirou?"
"Yeah, but it's no big deal. The weather is warming up lately, and there shouldn't be many chances to wear a jacket anyway. I'll just go buy one later when I have time."
"That's true... Have you considered asking the boss for a Penguin Logistics uniform jacket?"
Sora thought for a moment about Shirou's financial situation and offered her suggestion.
"A uniform jacket?"
Shirou paused for a second, then recalled that the people at Penguin Logistics all seemed to wear black and white jackets stamped with the Penguin Logistics logo.
There appeared to be many different styles, and it was said that Emperor handed out different uniform jackets depending on the person—though of course, that was a perk reserved for employees who were closer to him. Regular employees naturally wore ordinary uniform jackets.
"Yeah, just a basic thin jacket. Ordinary uniform jackets seem to be free to pick up."
Sora recalled a bit. After all, her uniform had been custom-made right from the start, so she didn't understand ordinary uniform jackets very well either.
"Just that one then, as long as it blocks the wind and sun."
Hearing that it didn't cost money, Shirou naturally had no reason to refuse. Besides, the weather was getting warmer, and it wouldn't be too late to switch to a new thick coat when next winter rolled around.
After all, he was still growing, and practically no clothing ever lasted a full year with him, so there was no need to be particularly picky; as long as it was usable, it was fine.
20 Crimson Door
Ha... A lot happened today, and I ate a very filling dinner. Luckily, the fish didn't taste too different.
Shirou, who had already washed up and returned to his room, stretched and reflected on the events of the day.
Wandering into the Lower City District, charging into a fire to save someone, chatting a bit with Sora, giving Croissant a croissant for dinner, and then cooking a big feast that made Croissant's mouth water—though of course that was just teasing her, and Croissant had ultimately filled her stomach properly.
He had to admit, the sight of Croissant looking so greedy she was almost on the verge of tears was truly stress-relieving.
Shirou wrapped the Holy Shroud from his bed around his hand, then began today's projection practice.
There were already many kinds of swords and blades on the table. Shirou was now able to project such ordinary weapons without incantation and produce decent finished products.
However, it currently stopped at ordinary blades. Trying to take it a step further and project Source Stone staves shaped like swords was something the current Shirou could not manage.
Can't project Source Stone?
Shirou pondered the reason for his inability to do so, eventually attributing it to the Source Stone.
What he had tried to project was Texas's Source Stone lightsaber. Usually, it was just in the shape of a hilt, and once activated, a blade would appear like a lightsaber. Every time Texas returned from a mission, she always maintained her hilt, so Shirou had also grasped a portion of the principles behind it.
Shirou could project the hilt part, but he couldn't make the blade materialize like Texas did.
He hadn't tried letting Texas use a hilt he had projected. After all, Source Stone was quite a dangerous thing around here, and if it really was because of the Source Stone that it couldn't be used, he couldn't let her take that risk just for testing.
Shirou himself was not exactly an orthodox Magus. Rather than delving deeply into magecraft, he was more inclined to treat magecraft as a convenient tool. People of this sort were mainly contemptuously referred to as magi.
Should I try projecting Noble Phantasms?
Shirou drained the magical energy from the several newly projected blades, letting them dissipate.
Fixating a projected product required extra magical energy, but the table was too crowded right now, so Shirou had no intention of adding them to the collection on the tabletop.
Trace on.
Evaluate the concept of creation,
Hypothesize the basic skeleton,
Duplicate the structural materials,
Imitate the manufacturing techniques,
Sympathize with the experience of growth,
Recreate the passage of years,
Surpass, and complete numerous tasks—
Along with the incantation, a ball of light first appeared in Shirou's hand, gradually taking on the shape of a blade, and after the incantation finished, it transformed into a black sword.
This was one of the favorite weapons used by Archer that he had seen from his own memories.
Yet the one in his hand right now was merely an empty shell with a surface appearance.
How on earth had the past self in his memories managed to directly project a Noble Phalanx on the first try? Was he using hacks or something?
During his few days at Penguin Logistics, Shirou had also gradually picked up the local slang.
Of course, he wouldn't use Longmen Curses at random, but he had grown quite accustomed to ordinary everyday expressions.
Shirou looked at the sword in his hand and thought for a moment. Although it was a thoroughly defective product, he did not dispel it in the end. Instead, he prepared to wrap it in a clean piece of cloth and place it on the table.
After all, this was the first Noble Phalanx he had projected since gaining his memories, so Shirou had to keep it properly.
Hiss... This familiar soreness.
Rising with the cloth-wrapped sword in hand, Shirou felt a familiar ache.
Have I entered old age prematurely?
Shirou massaged his sore areas, lamenting that he seemed to be just like Taiga, hurting here and there every few days.
After arranging some of the swords on the table, he placed the wrapped blade he was holding into the cleared space.
It's about time, too.
Having finished tidying up, Shirou checked the time. It was close to twelve, approaching eleven.
Lying down on the bed, Shirou, exhausted from the day, quickly drifted off to sleep.
...Almost ready?
A deep male voice drifted over.
What's almost ready?
Awakened by the voice, Shirou looked around.
It was that space with the four doors. No, there were only three doors left now.
Why am I here?
Shirou felt puzzled for a moment, then noticed something was amiss.
Wait, the chains on the doors are gone?
Shirou discovered that the chains which had always been wrapped around the doors had vanished. After hesitating for a moment, he decided to push open one of the doors anyway.
The door he pushed open this time was the red door. The reason was the same: it was simply closer.
The instant he pushed it open, Shirou's consciousness sank.
His memories prior to the Holy Grail War were roughly the same—he was either on his way to cook meals or on his way to help others.
Until that night, when he once again summoned Saber in that storehouse to repel Lancer.
The difference was that when Saber gave chase to fight Archer, he used a Command Spell to halt Saber's advance.
The trajectory after this point diverged completely from his previous memories. Due to Archer's heavier intervention, the friction between his past self and Archer gradually surfaced.
First was the issue of magecraft. As Archer fought battle after battle, his past self's magic circuits gradually resonated and assimilated with Archer's.
The degree of it was much more pronounced this time, giving Shirou an answer: as long as he and Archer existed simultaneously, his magic circuits as an ordinary human would grow close to Archer's due to resonance.
It would be even more evident if he witnessed battles with his own eyes.
The battle against Berserker, the battle at Ryuudou Temple, the battle against... himself.
Because of the Command Spell, Archer hadn't struck him down directly back then. Once the contract was severed, even though he could have killed him at any moment, he still didn't strike.
What Archer wanted to do was defeat the ideal of Justice's Companion from the mental aspect, even though he understood that doing so wouldn't make him, a heroic spirit, disappear.
Still, one had to try everything, right?
Through battle after battle, his past self also mastered the single thing Archer possessed—Unlimited Blade Works.
He projected his Imaginary World to invade the real world.
It was only then that Shirou understood what his Projection Magic truly was.
It wasn't simple projection; rather, swords were replicated within Unlimited Blade Works, and consumed magical energy to be drawn out whenever needed.
That was all he possessed.
Here, relying on the magical energy support from Rin, he unleashed Unlimited Blade Works and defeated Gilgamesh before the latter could react.
If the opponent had taken the attitude he used in the previous memory to fight, his past self here would probably have had a very hard time winning.
At the end of the memory, he went to study abroad in London together with Rin, and his past self here no longer clung stubbornly to the ideal of Justice's Companion.
Aside from Rin's influence, there was also the feeling that if he were to become Justice's Companion, continuing to imitate Archer's way of survival would bring only guilt—because no matter how well one played the role of Justice's Companion, victims would inevitably emerge in the end. When it all came down to it, it was nothing more than self-satisfaction.
Watching his past self wear a heartfelt smile when facing Rin, Shirou understood that his self here had already found what he wanted to do.
Shirou's consciousness withdrew, followed immediately by a fierce wave of pain.
Guwugh—
The sudden pain wrung a painful groan from Shirou.
21 Penguin Logistics Breakfast Shop
"Croissant, what on earth are you calling us up so early for?"
Exusiai asked the croissant-horned girl while yawning.
"Sleeping early and waking up early is great, but isn't this way too early?"
Sora pulled back the curtains. Outside was still pitch black, and the clock showed that it was around five o'clock.
Usually, they slept until seven or eight before getting up, washing up, and waiting for Shirou to feed them. Yet today, they had been dragged out of bed by Croissant.
"Zzz..."
Texas, on the other hand, was already fast asleep sitting straight up in her chair.
"You'd better have a good reason, or else I'm going to stuff a croissant right into your mouth."
After waking up a bit more, Exusiai issued a threatening declaration.
"Hmph hmph, of course there's a legitimate reason. Look at how Shirou wakes up early every day to make us breakfast; shouldn't we also try waking up early to make a delicate breakfast for Shirou?"
Croissant patted her chest and spoke with a confident look.
Before you continue